Dez refuses to carry Roy’s pads

Dallas Cowboys first-round draft pick Dez Bryant made it clear Sunday that the veteran wide receivers will have to find another rookie to haze.

Roy Williams gestured for Bryant to carry his pads after Sunday’s morning practice, but Bryant declined.

“I’m not doing it,” Bryant later told reporters. “I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads.

“If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing. I just feel like I’m here to play football. I’m here to try to help win a championship, not carry someone’s pads. I’m saying that out of no disrespect.”

Williams said he could go “to step two” to bring Bryant in line.

Hazing is an age-old NFL ritual. Each year the Cowboys’ rookie offensive linemen receive hideous haircuts from veterans.

During the Bill Parcells era, the coach made the club’s top draft pick bring him water during practice breaks.

When the Houston Oilers trained in San Antonio in the 1990s, veterans once taped a rookie to a goalpost at Trinity University.

“Everybody has to go through it,” Williams said. “I had to go through it. No matter if you’re a No. 1 pick or the 7,000th pick, you’ve still got to do something when you’re a rookie.

“I carried pads. I paid for dinners. I paid for lunches. I did everything I was supposed to do, because I didn’t want to be that guy.”

Asked to define “step two,” Williams said, “We’ll find out. Definitely going to find out. I don’t know. I’ve seen guys take people’s credit cards and go fill up their cards and wife’s cards and everything. There’s a lot of dirt that goes on in that locker room.”

With his acrobatic catches and willingness to sign autographs, Bryant has quickly become a fan favorite at the Alamodome. Cheers for the Oklahoma State product have been loud and long, especially when he makes a spectacular grab like he did Sunday morning when he beat Pro Bowl cornerback Mike Jenkins for a diving catch that resulted in a big gain.

It’s been just the opposite for Williams, who stands to lose his starting job to Bryant. Fans routinely hurl insults at the former Texas standout, who has struggled since joining the Cowboys in a trade with Detroit during the 2008 season.